The days following peters trip to the school seemed to dim, the monotonous routine of waking up, doing school work, eating, physical and mental therapy, and sleep was starting to get to him, making it feel like bugs were crawling under his skin. This was worse than before. Losing an arm and a leg hurt, it did, and it made everything feel weird, sometimes peter was certain he could still move the missing limbs, starting whenever he saw the glint of metal and not flesh, but losing a family member is worse, especially after having lost every other family member in his life.
It was strange, peter knew he wouldn't be seeing may later today. He wouldn't be forced to eat her bad cooking to make her happy, only to then order food a few minutes later, but sometimes he feels like he can hear her. Like she will bust into the room any minute with smoke coming from the kitchen. But that won't happen. May is gone, and now he lives in the avengers compound, his only visitors being happy and mister stark himself. Miss Potts had passed by, getting peter out of his room and helping her make dinner.
When the food came out fine the first time he had started crying, missing May more than anything.
She was now sitting in an Urn, the same one they had uncle ben in. He knew she'd rather share one with her husband than be separate, even after death.
It was with a strange sense of déjà vu as peter slowly sat up in his bed. His room was dark, but light streamed in from the windows that he had left open. He didn't know why he had, but the light helped somewhat.
It felt like the hole in his chest had gotten bigger, first from his parents, then from Ben, and now May. It chipped away at his mind.
Everyone he loves dies.
Everyone he cares for doesn't last.
Next would be ned, his over-enthusiastic guy in the chair. Then MJ, then Happy, then Tony, and then probably even pepper.
Tears spring back up into his eyes and he rubs at them furiously. He was tired of crying but it seemed that was all he did now.
A knock at the door drew his attention and Mister Starks voice called out, "hey Pete? There's some food in the kitchen if your hungry."
His stomach decided to rumble then and there and he sighed, standing and shuffling over to the door. Tony hides his surprise well, but the slight raising of his eyebrows gives him away. He smiles at peter softly and rests his arm around his shoulders, turning and walking the two of them into the kitchen.
"It's just a grilled cheese, something I can cook easily, it might be a bit burnt but..." he trails off, unsure what to say. Peter just nods, sitting down at the kitchen table and pulling the plated grilled cheese towards him. The sides were quite burnt but he didn't say anything, eating it all to appease Mister Stark. it reminded him of may and he tried not to start crying again.
Sitting at the table and sipping at the water he was handed, peter didn't know what to say to his mentor-slash-guardian. It seemed like the man didn't know what to say either. The silence seemed tense, peter fidgeting with his bottle and Tony staring out a window.
With a sigh the man stood up and stretched, "Alright kid, I'm going down to the lab. Wanna join me?"
"Sure."
~
Tony knew he wasn't ready to be anything remotely similar to a father, or a guardian, hell he was barely stable enough to be a mentor, but watching the scarred kid meet his robots with a smile made him feel all weird and warm inside. He had been the one to fuck up, he should have realized that the kid had started without him and would continue without him or the suit. Peter was too selfless for his good, it was easy to see with the way he interacted with the people around him. Always cautious, trying to avoid being an issue, people pleasing to the best of his abilities.
He watches as peter pets Dum-E, U spinning around the two of them. Butterfingers was nowhere to be seen, probably at his charging station or something. He hoped at least.
"He has a ball somewhere, probably stuck under a table or something." tony calls to the kid, watching him light up as he begins to search. Dum-E churrs happily.
the sound of the ball hitting the floor and being caught by Dum-E was enjoyable, tony had avoided turning on any of his music as he didn't want to upset Peter's senses on his first trip into the lab.
"Do you think I'll be going back to physical school?" peter asks softly. Homecoming and the incident had all happened in mid-september, leaving peter out of school to heal and grieve for well almost three months at this point. His last month off was slowly coming to a close and neither knew whether or not peter would be ready to return. Not only that but Christmas was fast approaching, what does a billionaire get a kid he disfigured because he wasn't thinking through his actions?
Hey here's a new arm for the one you lost! Now you have options! do you want a red one next?
"If you're ready to go to school kiddo. I'm not going to rush you or anything, it's your choice when and even if you wanna go back. if you want we can even transfer you to another school, there's plenty of good ones just like midtown." tony starts, pushing his thoughts away and spinning in his chair to face peter.
The kid taps his prosthetic fingers together as he thinks, tossing the ball back to Dum-E. He glances down at the metal fingers, spreading them as he begins to chew on his lip.
"Would there be any way to hide my arm?" he murmurs "and leg?" he adds as an afterthought. Tony leans back, taking in the boy in front of him. he was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, hiding his prosthetics as best he can beside his hand.
"If that's what you want, we can work on something to cover it."
"I just... I don't want to deal with everyone asking questions about it. I already know they're gonna ask about why I was gone and if I'm okay." he sighs. Tony was quite happy he had been able to keep his fostering of peter out of the news, he didn't want the kid to have to deal with his name plastered all over times square, his life story would be thrown to the wolves and tony just knows they would tear the poor kid to shreds.
"No one knows that you're with me, not even your friends, right?"
"Yea, but I was kinda hoping to tell Ned and-and maybe MJ about it..." he trails off, and Tony nods.
"We can let them know, as long as they don't say anything to the media-"
"They wouldn't! Neds been my best friend for years, and yea maybe he can get a little excited about certain things but he would probably keep his mouth shut, and MJ... Well, she doesn't really talk to anyone about secrets?" He rambles and Tony doesn't really like how Peter seems to question his own statement but he nods anyway.
"Alright, we can tell them. I'll let happy know he's gonna be in charge of driving you but I don't think it's a good idea to have you staying in the compound if you really want to go stay in midtown. that would be an almost three-hour drive and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to wake up at like five in the morning to get to school." tony states and peter kinda deflates.
"I forgot how far we were from Queens." peter murmurs, Dum-E beeping and pressing his claw against Peter's back. The kid turns to him and rubs the robot's arm, smiling softly at him.
"I can get us an apartment nearby, I'm not exactly needed at the compound twenty-four-seven." tony says after a moment of silence.
"Oh, no Mister Stark you don't have to-"
"Peter, I don't have to do anything. I want to do this. You are under my care now, so I'm going to try my best to keep everything the same as it was." It's my fault you're missing two different limbs. This is the least I can do kid.
"Thank you for everything Mister stark." peter murmurs and tony sighs.
"Don't worry about it, okay kid? We can have everything we took from your old apartment and move it out of storage to the new place. everything is gonna be ready by the time you have to go back to school okay? you can even help design your room."
"can it... can it have a room for aunt may and uncle ben?" peter asks softly, sitting himself on the floor as he keeps petting Dum-E.
"of course peter. we can even have a guest room in case anyone wants to stay by. It'll be big-"
"not super big? please? big houses kinda freak me out." peter murmurs, face turning red at the confession.
"it'll be roomy, but not big." the way peters shoulders kinda sag let tony know he had said the right thing.
"We can even try to have a lab, nothing big but somewhere to work," he adds, and peter smiles.
"Thank you again, mister stark."
"Don't even mention it Pete."
~
Peter's room is pretty much the same it had been when may was still alive, just bigger. His bed was no longer a twin, but the sheets were the same. His legos and posters were all set up on the walls and on shelves, he tried not to think too much over the iron man poster now hung up in plain view of the door. He suspected Mister stark had done that on purpose but he didn't want to ask, embarrassed enough as it is.
Everything was so different, yet it was all his stuff. He didn't really know what to do, sitting on his bed and looking around his room. There was now a TV in his room, the consoles he had been repairing and new ones were stacked on the table the TV was held above. He just knew Ned would lose his mind when he sees it.
It felt kinda wrong to have all this new and expensive stuff. He would've been happy without it, but he guesses mister stark thought it would cheer him up? He's not sure, but he's more than grateful for everything that his mentor is doing for him.
He glances down at his hand, once again biting his lip as he thinks. He and Mister Stark, call me tony kid, had been unable to make any sort of realistic covering for the limb, even the cradle had been a dead end. Christmas was a few weeks away and the thought made his stomach tighten, missing his aunt more and more as the day approached. Would Mister stark, sorry Tony, even want to do anything for Christmas? They did just move into the house but he thought maybe Tony would have had the person who moved all their stuff in decorate as well? It was another weird thought that made his stomach roll. Tony didn't have to do anything more for him, he should be grateful for what he had.
He glances at the door that led to the room he had put aside for may and ben. it wasn't big but it was exactly what he had imagined for them. he had mays favorite flowers in there, some of bens favorite things too. It was like a little shrine. His therapist thought it was a nice and sweet gesture, but he kinda hoped Tony didn't think it was weird and childish.
He would be going back to class soon and the thought made him nervous, he knew that they would have to do swimming soon for gym and the thought of going into the water in swim shorts, showing off his prosthetics to everyone, made him sick to his stomach.
Alot of this made him sick to his stomach nowadays. It's a feeling he really hopes he doesn't get used too.
He's startled by a knock at his door, clearing his throat before calling out, "come in"
Tony peaks his head inside, a smirk on his lips when his eyes instantly land on the poster and peter feels his face burn.
"come to the living underoos, I got something for you." he says before pulling away leaving the door open behind him. Peter is quick to follow, the sound of his metal leg thumping on the floor making him cringe. He should probably get carpetting in his room and see if tony would get some for other parts of the apartment, he doesn't want the people below to hate them.
"whats going... on?" peter trails, looking at the people in the apartment. happy, miss ports and colonel rhodes were all there, wearing ugly Christmas sweaters and holding boxes of decorations.
"Christmas is almost here and the house looked sad." tony shrugs, looking away from peter with his hands in his pockets, "the other said they'd help us decorate."
peters eyes sting and there's shock in tonys eyes when he glances over, worried about peters silence, but the boy just throws himself at the man, arms wrapping around the billionaires waist as he presses his forehead against his chest.
"thanks..." peter whispers against his chest, holding on tight. tony hesitantly wraps his own arms around peter, hugging the boy back just as tight. happy pretends not to watch, digging through the boxes and pepper and rhodey share a glance.
clearing his throat, tony gives peter a pat, "come on with all the hugs, lets get to decorating." Peter pulls away with a smile, using his sweater to wipe away the tears.
"i brought you an ugly sweater too." the Colonel states, passing him the fuzzy monstrosity. Peter barks out a laugh when he sees the ironman armour on the front, pulling it on and over his shirt.
"i love it, thanks Colonel. Its so ugly." peter laughs and tony squacks in indignation, trying to defend the design.
"Your welcome peter, but you can just call me rhodey peter, everyone does. I made sure to pick the worst one for you"
"its not that bad platypus!" tony exclaims, getting an eyeroll from rhodey. the two begin to argue as Miss potts nudges Peter towards the boxes.
"why don't we start with hanging up some lights?" she asks and peter smiles, nodding enthusiastically as he dives for the box.
"careful kid, there's some fragile stuff in there." happy grumps and peter laughs, nudging the man with his elbow.
"let me go bring up the tree." happy murmurs, poking peter back as he passes him.
"a tree? like a real tree or a plastic tree?" peter asks quickly, turning his attention to happy as he puts his shoes on.
"a real tree." he answers and peter laughs, "whos idea was that?" he questions, glancing around trying to figure out where it would go. happy just nudges his head in Tonys direction, the man had his chest puffed out like an insulted peacock as he argued with his friend. peter laughs and turns back to Miss potts, helping her untangle the lights and tinsel that was in the box she had been holding.
both tony and rhodey are too busy with each other to notice happy bringing in a decently sized Christmas tree, placing it in the corner of the room that had been emptied. he sets the stand down and then shoves the tree in, working the metal bits into the bark. peter goes over to help steady the plant, taking deep breaths of its pine scent.
"it smells so good." peter laughs, glancing down when he steps on a bunch of pine needles. Miss potts was already using a broom to sweep them all together, no one wanting to grab the vacuum and make the two arguing men stop their idiotic quarrel.
The three of them easily get the tree set up and get to work with the other decorations as both Tony and Rhodey continued to argue about the sweater, Tony trying to defend it and Rhodey just shooting down everything the shorter man said.
"I will not stand for this type of blasphemy in my own home!" tony exclaims and steps away, finally noticing the work that had gone on around him.
"when did you bring up the tree?" he questions and everyone laughs.
With the lights already on the tree and Miss potts working on the tinsel, peter goes into the box labeled ornaments and stops for a moment when he finds the ones he used to put on the fake trees hed have with may. they were always small trees, barley reaching four feet, that would come with pre-installed lights and fake snow on the pines. they always placed an overly large star on top and with a bit of searching he finds it. he grabs it and glances at the tree, deciding it would be better for him to just climb up the wall to put the star on. he's quick to do that, going up the wall and scrambling along the roof until he's right on top.
he stands on the roof, his metal leg still a bit wonky when it comes to gripping onto stuff but with his normal leg it was doing just fine. he gently places the star at the top of the tree, flipping off the roof onto the couch and causing a yell from most of the people in the room.
"sorry..." peter says with a blush, laughing lightly. tony just rolls his eyes and grabs some ornaments, moving to help the others put them on the tree. peter stays on the couch, misty eyed and watching the adults continue.
"you have to put space between the decorations tony-" happy scolds not even a moment later, tony scoffing and once again getting into another argument.
"hey pete, can you help put the lights up?" rhodey questions and peter is quick to get back to helping.
~
its a couple of hours later when everything is done, lights strung up, decorations taking up shelves. there was even a fake santa standing by a bowl of chocolate near the door. the others had already left, Miss Potts pressing a kiss to tony's cheek as she leaves.
"where's she going?" peter had questioned.
"we were gonna wait a bit before she moved here to join us, give you some time to settle into the new place and all." tony explains and peter frowns.
"I like Miss potts, she shouldn't have to leave because of me." peter murmrus and tony sighs softly, a smile on his mouth.
"I'll let her know that."
"tell her to move in soon too... Your happier when shes here." peter adds the last moment softly and tony throws an arm around the kids shoulder with a hum.
"come on, there's one more thing i wanna show you about your room" tony says, leading peter away from the livingroom and towards his room. some decorations had been moved there for him to set up, no one wanting to invade peters privacy which the boy appreciated.
Tony beelines for peters annoyingly large walk-in closet, opening the door and nudging peter in first.
"your showing me my closet?" he questions, tilting his head.
"not exactly." tony answers, pushing aside some of peters clothes and pulling open a little door. inside was a button and a scanner, tony pressing his thumb on the scanner first before tapping the button. the wall opens and out comes a tube that held his suit, peter staring in awe at it.
"oh wow." he murmurs, holding out his hand and brushing it against the glass. he doesn't cringe when he notices that it was the metal hand he had extended.
"Take this as an early Christmas gift, okay peter?" tony says softly and peter once again throws himself at the man, hugging him tightly as more tears slip down his cheeks.
"there's more space in there for other suits, i was thinking we should design one specifically for Christmas. make it just as ugly as that sweater you're wearing." tony murmurs, pressing his cheek against peters hair as he hugs the boy back.
"so you admit the sweaters ugly?" peter questions, face smushed into tonys chest.
"oh its absolutely hideous, but I'm not gonna stand by and let rhodey insult it like that." tony laughs and peter joins in. he pulls away to smile at the man, tony bringing a hand up to wipe away a tear.
"merry Christmas peter."
"merry Christmas tony."